Chapter 311: Outreach
"What’s with you? Is there like an underground chamber or something?" asked Bonney, interrupting Vahn’s moment of reflection by throwing her arms around him from behind and entrusting more than just her weight to his upper back.
"Mmn...let’s see..." responded Vahn, sending a series of pulses through the ground to create a three-dimensional map of the deeply entrenched icy terrain. His domain could expand through physical, particularly porous objects, but it took time, and the image wasn’t very clear.
Shaking his head after several seconds, Vahn revealed, "There are a few underground tunnels, but they feel natural and have collapsed at several points. Probably not worth exploring."
"Then, what now? These places aren’t like Dungeons, so it’s a waste of time to search for a treasure room," stated Bonney, tensing and relaxing her arms while speaking huskily into Vahn’s left ear.
"Did you have any other places in mind?" asked Vahn, causing Bonney’s expression to flatten as he transformed into his oversized Inu Inu no Mi model Wolf God form. There were still more than two hours before he had to meet with Rias, and since Riko and Prushka had thoughtfully refrained from joining them, he was allowing Bonney to determine where they went and how they spent their time together.
"There’s a hot springs biome near a mountain in the far east..." muttered Bonney, rising to a seated position and grabbing two clumps of Vahn’s fur like reins as she added, "But I’m guessing you’re too chicken shit to bathe with me without making things awkward."
"I’m fairly certain you would be the one to make things awkward," stated Vahn, lowering his head and closing his eyes as Ghislaine drew near. The tall and inordinately buxom cat woman raised her brows at this, but since it was obvious what he wanted, she didn’t hesitate to extend her left hand to caress his head and dig into his scruff with her long, sharp nails.
"Hey, cut it out...this is supposed to be my time..." complained Bonney, tugging on Vahn’s fur in a vain attempt to get him to raise his head. He did, eventually, but only after Ghislaine adopted a rare, slightly narrow-eyed smile and scratched under his chin.
"So, where to...?" asked Vahn, followed by a gloomy silence as Bonney pouted atop him.
"Somewhere thieving cats and third wheels aren’t allowed..." grumbled Bonney, causing Ghislaine to tilt her head slightly as she stared daggers at her.
"Should I excuse myself...?" asked Ghislaine, directing the question at Vahn.